Marine fish

•  The number of commercial fisherman has been steadily decreasing in England and Wales since 1938.
• The total quantity of fish and shellfish landed at UK major ports by the UK fleet decreased from the 2007 total of 439, 809 tonnes to 409,400 landed in 2008.
• The value of landed fish & shellfish has steadily risen since 2003 from £396 million to £535 million in 2007, however in all both types, in 2008 there has been a slight decrease down to a total of £517.8 million.
• Brixham had the highest tonnage of fish landed by the UK fleet in the South West in 2008, with 28.3% (11,021 tonnes) and had the highest value of fish landed with 36% (£19.3 million) of the regional total.
• Brixham had the highest tonnage of Shellfish landed in the South West ports with 34% (4,796 tonnes) and in terms of value Brixham had the highest value of shellfish landed with 41% (just over £7.5 million).

The Marine and Fisheries Agency collect information on the quantity (live weight), value and area of capture for all UK fishing vessels landing into the UK and abroad as well as for foreign vessels landing into the UK.

Sea fish are classified as demersal (species such as cod, haddock and sole living on or near the sea bed), pelagic (species such as mackerel and herring which are found in shoals in mid-water or near the surface of the sea) or shellfish (species such as crabs, mussels and nephrops/langoustines).

Catch and landings 2008

The total quantity of fish and shellfish landed at UK major ports by the UK fleet decreased slightly from the 2007 total of 439,809 tonnes to 409,400 landed in 2008.

The value of landed fish & shellfish has steadily risen since 2003 from £396 million to £535 million in 2007, however in both types, in 2008 there has been a slight decrease down to a total of £517.8 million. The quantity of the UK catch consisted of 125 thousand tonnes of demersal fish (30.5%), 141.6 thousand tonnes of pelagic fish (34.5%) and 142.8 thousand tonnes (34.8%) of shellfish. The value of these quantities vary greatly and shellfish accounted for just over £257 million (49.7%) of the total UK landing value. Demersal fish accounted for over £179 million and pelagic fish accounted for over 141.6 thousand tonnes had just £81 million income.

In 2008, 38,823 tonnes of fish (includes pelagic and demersal catch) and shellfish worth over £53 million were landed into major ports in the South West by UK vessels. This was slightly down on the 38,920 tonnes caught in 2007 and an decreased in value of over £3 million pounds.

This regional catch consisted of 23,396 tonnes of fish (60%) and 15,427 tonnes (40%) of shellfish. The major fishing ports in the South West used in this data are Brixham, Newlyn, Plymouth, Looe, Weymouth, Exmouth, Teignbridge, Poole, Salcombe and Dartmouth.

Brixham had the highest tonnage of fish landed by the UK fleet in the South West in 2008, with 28.3% (11,021 tonnes), followed by Plymouth with 27.5% (10,696 tonnes) and Newlyn with 21% (8,192 tonnes). In terms of value Brixham had the highest value of fish landed with 36% (£19.3 million) of the regional total, followed by Newlyn with 29% (£15.7 million), and Plymouth with 17% (£9 million).

Brixham had the highest tonnage of Shellfish landed in the South West ports with 34% (4,796 tonnes), followed by Weymouth with 17% (2,422 tonnes), then Plymouth with 14% (2,011 tonnes). In terms of value Brixham had the highest value of shellfish landed with 41% (just over £7.5 million), followed by Plymouth with 15% (£2.8 million) and Newlyn with 14% (£2.5 million)

Source:Defra / Marine and Fisheries Agency, 2009)

Landing Trends in South West

Between 2004 and 2008 the quantity of total landings in the South West fluctuated between 36,300 t in 2004, peaking in 2007 with 40,600t down to up to 38,823t in 2008. The quantity of shellfish has increased from 12,726 in 2003 up to over 15,000 in both 2004 and 2005. In 2008, 15,427t were landed. The value of the total catch has steadily increased in the past 5 years from £47.3 million in 2003, peaking at £56.8 million in 2007, and reaching £53.2 million in 2008.

Out of the South West main ports, Brixham is responsible for the largest quantity of fish in 2008 with 11,000t. This has been increasing since 2004 from 10,200 tonnes. Increases have also been seen in the same period in Exmouth, and Dartmouth, with their figures both peaking over the 5 years in 2007 with 2,000t and 1,100t respectively.

The smaller ports of Weymouth and Poole have seen a decline in their fish landings with 2,700t and 2,300t in 2004 down to 2,500 t and 1,000t respectively in 2008. Weymouth in 2005 peaked landings over 2004-2008 in 2005 when they landed 5,900t.  

In terms of fish landings value Brixham is the most successful port in the South West with the value of fish increasing generally since 2004 from £17.2 million, up to £19.3 million in 2008. However this figure was below the £20.6 million recorded in 2007, which was the first port to land fish over £20 million at any port during the past 5 years in the South West.

Newlyn and Poole were the only ports in the South West to recorded an overall decrease in value of landings from 2004-2008 from £17.3 million and £2.3 million in 2004 respectively, down to £15.7 million and £1.8 million respectively in 2008.

Employment

Between 2007 and 2008, total employment in commercial  fishermen increased by almost 1.5% in England & Wales. There was a small increase in both full-time fisherman and part-time, with regular full-time employment increased by 1.1%, but part-time employment increased by 2.6%.

In the South West the trend of full time fisherman moving to part-time continued with the number of part time fisherman decreasing from 202 in 2007 to 166 in 2008, while regular full-time fisherman increased slightly from 868 in 2007 to 877 in 2008.

• Marine and Fisheries Agency statistics

• Freshwater fish trends in the South West